In an attempt to curb widespread abuses of the much-coveted handicapped parking privileges, the state did a major overhaul of its permitting process.

Under a new law, all disabled drivers who received permits before Jan. 2, 1997, had to reapply for a new permit under much stricter rules, regardless of when their current permit expired, or face a $250 fine.

``We have been passing out fliers telling them of the new change since we found out about it last year,'' Finley said.

State motor vehicle officials said letters were sent to each of the state's 696,000 disabled drivers with permits.

``We mailed approximately 58,000 per month for 12 months, beginning in January 1997,'' said Janet Dennis, spokeswoman for the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. ``Those who claimed they didn't get it may have just thrown it out. We hear the same thing from people whose driver's licenses have been suspended.''

Of 25 disabled motorists interviewed in Palm Beach County this week, 17 said they never received a letter from the state. Seven said they heard about it on television. The remainder said they read about it in newspapers.

``I was lucky,'' said Eleanor Abelsen, 86, of Delray Beach. ``I would not have known anything about it if I had not seen it in the paper. I would have been one of those who would have been ticketed.''

No statistics are available on the number of citations written in Boynton Beach and Boca Raton because officials say they do not keep them.

Last week, the parking management office in Fort Lauderdale received as many as 50 calls a day from unhappy ticket recipients. All claimed that they didn't know about the new law.

``If we were supposed to get a notice in the mail, I know that I never got a letter or anything,'' said Sheila Brazill of Fort Lauderdale.

Brazill had a valid new permit. But she was ticketed because of a flaw in the initial design of the placard, a parking official said.

The design since has been changed. ``I had thought that I was fine because I had read in the newspaper that if you were issued a permit after Jan. 2, 1997, you didn't need a new permit,'' Brazill said. ``So when I saw the ticket, I was so mad that I brought it home and threw it at my husband.''

State officials said they have heard all sorts of excuses. But the most frequent one is that they didn't know about the changes.

In Broward County, where volunteer parking enforcement officers have written as many as 100 parking violations each day since April 1, officers are having to deal with a lot of threats and name-calling.

``When you give somebody a $250 ticket, they are angry,'' said Marty Fagalbaum, coordinator of the Broward Sheriff's Office Parking Enforcement Unit.

Fagalbaum said he has fielded hundreds of calls in the last week from people with tickets.

``Most of them got the letter, looked at their permit and saw that there was a different expiration date, and then just threw it out,'' said Fagalbaum.

Advocates for the disabled have pushed for the new law. Many say it is long overdue, despite the initial confusion.

For more information, contact your local tax collector's office or the DHSMV Web page at (htpp///www.hsmv.state.fl.us/).